Film/video classes get teens behind lenses

Young aspiring filmmakers will have several opportunities this summer to learn from some of the best.

We are blessed in these parts to have Emmy Award-winning professionals residing in Northern Michigan who are willing to spend part of their summer teaching their craft to young people.

The Northern Michigan Youth Theatre is offering a series of film and video classes in July for teens interested in filmmaking. The series kicks off in mid July with David Crouse, Emmy-Award winning local independent filmmaker. Next in the series will be a hands-on lesson in shot planning and shooting dialog with Julie and Rick Pierpont at their production facility in Harbor Springs. The Pierponts have worked in the industry for 20 years, traveling around the world to produce documentaries aired on PBS, promotional DVDs and TV commercials.

The next workshop will feature Randy Calcaterra, director of the student Emmy Award-winning Boyne City High School TV and Film Broadcasting Program. Calcaterra will lead a private viewing and discussion of "The Making of …," the film that gives viewers a backstage look at Boyne's takeoff on "Back to the Future."

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The series will then continue with John Kotarski's intense two-day seminar on "Citizen Storytelling." The seminar will cover lessons on how to shoot dialog on location, shoot B-roll and edit. Kotarski spent 20 years producing local community access television and now consults in civic media curriculum design for school districts throughout Michigan.

Concluding the series will be a session by CJ Winnell on how to shoot a chase scene. Winnell won an Emmy Award as part of the crew of ESPN's College Game Day Show. He continues to work on shoots locally and in other parts of the country.

With so much knowledge and their willingness to share, these professionals are introducing our kids to the world of filmmaking in a way no book or online course could ever do.

Earlier this year, Calcaterra arranged to have Harry Waters Jr., best known for his role in "Back to the Future," spend two full days with students at Boyne City High School. Waters conducted workshops with both the school's visual imaging and drama department students. He even offered some suggestions on the "Dance Boyne Dance" production and agreed to appear in a scene in the movie. Calcaterra and his students agreed that the opportunity to work with Waters was an "amazing experience."

The upcoming Aspiring Filmmakers Summer Workshop series promises to be equally as exciting and informative. The filmmakers' series is supported by the Petoskey Public Library, and requires advance enrollment. For more information, students can log on to www.nmyt.org or contact Karen Mazzoline at (231) 838-6320 or Ann Chatterson at (231) 487-0036.